A medicine dispensing apparatus for automatically dispensing prescribed medicines by a prescribed number based on a prescription is well known in the art. For example, the applicant of the present application developed a medicine dispensing apparatus as described in patent document 1: WO 2010/110360. This medicine dispensing apparatus gets a good reputation and receives a high evaluation from prescription professionals that the medicine dispensing apparatus makes a prescription work more efficient.
In this medicine dispensing apparatus, various kinds of medicines to be dispensed are stored in a plurality of cassettes. When the medicines are dispensed and any one of the cassettes becomes empty, a prescription professional needs to take the cassette from the apparatus to restock the medicines into the cassette with his/her own hands. At this time, a mistake that the prescription professional restocks improper medicines into the cassette may occur.
Further, among various kinds of medicines, there is a kind of medicine whose powder peels off and falls from its surface. In a case that such a kind of medicine is contained in the cassette and the cassette in which the medicine is contained is used for a long term, the powder is deposited in the cassette and a part of the deposited powder gets into narrow spaces. Thus, there is a request from some users of improving the cassette so that the cassette can be disassembled and washed.